1. Norway

Tour This Teacher’s Awesome Upcycled Office

New Delhi–based social activist Vimlendu Jha is an environmentalist to the core. He runs a nongovernmental organization called Swechha, teaching the city’s youth about ecological issues and empowering them to take action for a better environment. Jha believes that change begins at home, so last year, when Swechha was shifting to a new building, he decided to experiment with trash to create his office space. With a half dozen team members and many more staff and volunteers, he contacted a few rag pickers, set off to the nearest kabaddi wallah—someone who dismantles objects and structures to sell the parts—and shopped from organized garbage markets in the city for trash.

In less than a month, they put together what is quite possibly India’s first upcycled office. Jha uses the space to share ideas about upcycling with students and anyone else who wanders in out of curiosity. The office also houses a production unit for Green the Gap, an enterprise that makes products from waste and sells them online and through a retail store.

According to the latest rankings from the University of Notre Dame’s Global Adaptation Index (ND-GAIN), we can see which nations are best prepared for climate change—and which would be most devastated by global warming.

To compile the list, researchers “rank more than 175 countries based on their vulnerability to climate change and their readiness to adapt to the droughts, super storms, and natural disasters that climate change can cause.”

In total, the index looks at 36 indicators to measure each nation’s vulnerability and nine indicators to measure a country’s readiness, giving a score from 1 to 100 to each nation—100 being the highest ranking.

The results come with few shockers: Rich nations in the West—arguably the most responsible for Earth’s current climate trajectory—are the best equipped to adapt to the hotter, drier future.

For example, all of Scandinavia fared well despite its miles of coastline, scoring high points for its glut of natural resources, such as oil, its technologically advanced infrastructure, and its access to clean drinking water.

The United States, Canada, and Australia benefit from their sheer size, rich croplands, and geographic locations away from the soon-to-be-hotter Equator.

Poor nations, particularly those with a lot of coastline to fortify, score particularly low on the index. Nations with few resources, unstable food supplies, and meager infrastructure are the most likely to feel the climate pain.

Excerpt from University of Notre Dame Global Adaptation Index (ND-GAIN)

Some of the most vulnerable nations are in the sub-Saharan region, where water resources could dry up quickly, technology lags, and political will to combat impending climate changes has yet to gain momentum.

Ultimately, every country will be impacted in some way by climate change, but the ND-GAIN gives a glimpse into where we can expect the most damage if world leaders don’t start preparing for the future.

We’ve highlighted the 10 nations most prepared to face climate change. See if your country made it.

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TakePart is the digital news and lifestyle magazine from Participant Media, the company behind such acclaimed documentaries as CITIZENFOUR, An Inconvenient Truth, and Food, Inc. and feature films including Lincoln and Spotlight.